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Soul King
|altbackcolor = #000000 |textcolor = #000000 |alttextcolor = #960018 |maxwidth = 15 |height = 2.3 |tab1 = Overview |tab2 = Expanded Universe |tab3 = Image Gallery }} The is the ruler of Soul Society, whose existence in Soul Society is as symbolic as it is absolute. He resides in the Soul King Palace and is protected by the Royal Guard.Bleach manga; Chapter 223, page 7 The Soul King is the father of Yhwach.Bleach manga; Chapter 611, page 16 Appearance The Soul King is humanoid in physique, with slicked-back dark hair, oval eyes and very thin eyebrows. His eyes are very unusual, consisting of four black circles which can change alignment.Bleach manga; Chapter 519, pages 16-17''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 615, page 2 He does not have any arms or legs beyond short stumps.Bleach manga; Chapter 612, page 3''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 614, page 12 The Soul King exists within an unusual barrier that is framed on either side by bright white curtains as the focus point of a large, elegant room. Purpose and Duties The Soul King's sole purpose is to regulate the flow of souls into and out of Soul Society and keep the flow stable. Without the Soul King, the balance is lost and everything that is linked to Soul Society or made in it, as well as the Dangai, Hueco Mundo and the Human World will fall apart.Bleach manga; Chapter 615, page 14 According to a conversation between Kisuke Urahara and Sōsuke Aizen the Soul King is detailed as both a "thing" and "it". Urahara details that without the Soul King's existence, Soul Society would be rent asunder. The Soul King is the "linchpin" and if that linchpin is lost, then the world would simply crumble away and that is the way of the world.Bleach manga; Chapter 421, pages 18-19 The Soul King is not involved in governing Soul Society, having given the full control of its government to the Central 46 and thus being uninvolved with the day-to-day affairs of Soul Society. History According to Ichibē Hyōsube, the Soul King bestowed him the title of "Monk Who Calls the Real Name".Bleach manga; Chapter 564, pages 7-8 At some point in history, the Soul King's limbs and organs were severed from his body. After that, he was sealed up and had restraints placed on his powers by the Shinigami.Bleach manga; Chapter 621, page 9 Plot The Thousand-Year Blood War arc Shortly after the Royal Guard travel to the Seireitei and retrieve Ichigo Kurosaki and his Shinigami friends so they can heal and train in the Soul King Palace, the Soul King is approached by a retainer, who watches over the Soul King and inquires if he has awoken when the Soul King opens his eyes. A few days later, Yhwach, his son, arrives at the Soul King Palace and proceeds to slaughter many of the Soul King's vassals and subjects before arriving in the Soul King's room and stabbing him through the chest.Bleach manga; Chapter 611, pages 16-17''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 612, pages 1-3 Soon afterward, Ichigo and his friends arrive in the room, where Yhwach reveals the Soul King's situation to them before claiming they are too late to do anything. When Ichigo attempts to help the king by pulling out Yhwach's sword, Blut Vene veins spread over his right side and force him to slash the Soul King across the torso. Yhwach explains Ichigo's actions by revealing that Quincy blood cannot tolerate the Soul King's existence.Bleach manga; Chapter 614, pages 10-16 As the lower half of the Soul King's body and containment pod fall to the ground, Yhwach explains to Ichigo how he forced Ichigo to attack him by giving the Reiatsu still present in his sword to him, which his blood reacted to.Bleach manga; Chapter 615, pages 2-5 When Orihime attempts to revive the Soul King, her Sōten Kisshun shatters, prompting Yhwach to proclaim that the Soul King will never rise again.Bleach manga; Chapter 615, pages 16-17 However, in the Seireitei below, Jūshirō Ukitake, who was once saved by Mimihagi, the right hand of the Soul King, initiates Kamikake to save the Soul King's life at the cost of his own.Bleach manga; Chapter 616, pages 4-17 Upon doing so, a large black hand bursts out of his orifices and ascends toward the palace, where it grabs the upper half of the Soul King's body. Shocked by this, Yhwach notes that Mimihagi is the one thing that his eyes cannot predict and demands to know if the Soul King is beginning to feel sentimental toward Soul Society after protecting it for all this time as the eye of Mimihagi begins to close.Bleach manga; Chapter 617, pages 1-9 Yhwach attempts to destroy both the Soul King and Mimihagi, but Ichigo stops him by grabbing his arm and dispelling his attack, allowing Yoruichi to leap past them and create a Kidō barrier around the Soul King with several seals. Yoruichi notes that Mimihagi has stabilized the king before proclaiming that they will have to replace him.Bleach manga; Chapter 618, pages 9-12 However, when Yoruichi momentarily loses her concentration due to Uryū Ishida shooting her in the shoulder, the barrier shatters, sending the top half of the Soul King flying toward Yhwach, who rips Mimihagi off of it.Bleach manga; Chapter 619, pages 7-16 After absorbing Mimihagi,Bleach manga; Chapter 620, pages 14-16 Yhwach completely absorbs the Soul King.Bleach manga; Chapter 625, page 17 Powers & Abilities Immense Spiritual Power: As the supreme ruler of the Soul Society, the Soul King has an incomparably immense amount of Spiritual Power. When Yhwach, who possesses immense Reiryoku himself, absorbed the Soul King's full power, the Quincy Emperor collapsed from the sheer strain and needed some time for his body to fully acclimate to it.Bleach manga; Chapter 621, page 8 During this period, the Soul King's Reiatsu kept pouring out of Yhwach to such a degree it manifested as countless "shadow creatures" that threatened to destroy the Seireitei.Bleach manga; Chapter 621, page 8 A further testament to the Soul King's power is that even two of his severed body parts retained enough Reiryoku for Yhwach to acknowledge them as members of his personal guard, the Schutzstaffel.Bleach manga; Chapter 637, page 9''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 656, page 6 Soul Regulation: The Soul King's sole purpose is to regulate the flow of souls in and out of Soul Society. Without his existence, all known dimensions connected to Soul Society will begin crumbling into non-existence.Bleach manga; Chapter 615, pages 14-15 Ōken Bestowment: The Soul King is capable of granting those whom he chooses as members of the Royal Guard with the Ōken, a special tool that allows one to enter the dimension of the Soul King Palace whenever they wish. The king achieves this by literally turning the bones of those he selects as Royal Guard members into this Ōken.Bleach manga; Chapter 519, page 4 Precognition: Like his son, Yhwach, the Soul King has the ability to see into the future.Bleach manga; Chapter 611, page 17 Yhwach theorizes that the Soul King has seen all the events of the Quincy Blood War, up to and including him invading the Soul King Palace.Bleach manga; Chapter 612, page 2 Weaknesses *'Power Restraints': The Soul King has restraints placed upon his power by the Shinigami. Yhwach implies these restraints prevented the King from fleeing his death.Bleach manga; Chapter 612, page 1 Sentient Body Parts Various parts of the Soul King have been separated from the main body and attained sentience. They each have their own names, personalities, and abilities. Trivia *In his first appearance in Chapter 519, the Soul King's silhouette appears to have arms and legs. In all subsequent appearances, his arms and legs are removed. *The Soul King, his body parts, and his son all have unusual eyes and many of them share an eye motif. **The Soul King appears to have at least four black irises in each eye. His power that leaked out after Yhwach absorbed him manifests as eyeball creatures.Bleach manga; Chapter 621, page 7 **Mimihagi has a large eye at the back of the hand. When enveloping Jūshirō Ukitake and Yhwach, shadowy eyes appear over their bodies.Bleach manga; Chapter 616, page 14''Bleach'' manga; Chapter 620, page 16 **Pernida Parnkgjas has a large eye at the palm of the hand. The eye in its debut appearance is shown with two irises and pupils,Bleach manga; Chapter 637, page 8 though the arms that form after have normal eyes.Bleach manga; Chapter 638, page 17 When regenerating, multiple eyes are formed on the arm.Bleach manga; Chapter 643, pages 4-17 **Gerard Valkyrie has extremely unorthodox eyes: his sclerae are gold; his irises are white, enlarged, and malleable; and he does not have any pupils.Bleach manga; Chapter 655, page 10 **Yhwach has at least three irises and pupils in each eye when using The Almighty, which allows him to see the future like the Soul King. He claims this is proof that he is a "true Quincy".Bleach manga; Chapter 614, page 11 After absorbing the Soul King and Mimihagi, he obtains a cloak of darkness covered in eyeballs.Bleach manga; Chapter 626, page 10 *Pernida and Gerard both identify as Quincy.Bleach manga; Chapter 656, pages 3-4 When Mayuri Kurotsuchi confronts Pernida about this, the left arm asserts it has always been a Quincy.Bleach manga; Chapter 640, pages 8-11 *Yhwach considers the Soul King's existence, a sealed and mutilated linchpin made to stabilize the Soul Society,Bleach manga; Chapter 615, page 14 unacceptable to the Quincy,Bleach manga; Chapter 614, page 16 and calls it a "humiliation".Bleach manga; Chapter 612, page 2 He also calls the Soul King Palace a "decaying grave".Bleach manga; Chapter 588, page 5 Anyone with Yhwach's blood is forced to end the Soul King.Bleach manga; Chapter 615, page 7 *According to Jugram Haschwalth, the Soul King's true enemy is the Shinigami. When released from the Shinigami's seal, a torrent of the Soul King's power attacks the Shinigami and ignores the nearby Quincy. **Despite this, Mimihagi aids the Shinigami, much to Yhwach's confusion.Bleach manga; Chapter 617, pages 8-9 Yhwach speculates that the right arm has grown attached to the Soul Society after being worshiped as a god for so long. Appearances in Other Media In Ryohgo Narita's novel Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, the Soul King's nature and backstory is greatly expanded upon. Read more... References Navigation ru:Король душ es:Rey Espíritu pl:Król Dusz id:Raja Roh de:Geisteskönig Category:World of Bleach Category:Soul Society Category:Deceased Category:Male Category:Characters Category:Manga Only Characters